Online Reporter
Innocent Kurira [email protected]
THE fallout between Highlanders and chief executive officer Denzil Mnkandla has taken a dramatic new twist, with the club suspending him for a second time in three months while also considering reporting him to the police over alleged financial irregularities surrounding the team’s pre-season tour of Botswana.
Zimpapers Sports Hub has established that Mnkandla was served with another suspension letter this week, just days after he declared financial incapacitation over unpaid salaries.
While his latest suspension is linked to the incapacitation claim over salary arrears, investigations into the controversial Botswana trip have gathered fresh momentum, with sources saying the executive is now considering referring the matter to the police if internal investigations conclude there was criminal prejudice to the club.
“The executive wants to exhaust internal processes first, but there is a feeling that if there is evidence of financial prejudice, then the matter cannot simply end with disciplinary action. Reporting it to the police is one of the options being seriously considered,” said a club source.
The latest developments deepen an administrative crisis that has engulfed the Bulawayo giants for months and further strain relations between Mnkandla and the executive.
The former FC Platinum administrator was first suspended in April after allegations emerged that expenditure for the Botswana training camp had been significantly inflated.
Investigations centred on claims that the club may have paid as much as US$20 000 above the actual cost of the trip after middlemen allegedly became involved in arranging accommodation and other logistics.
Sources also alleged that the club’s procurement procedures were ignored, with the mandatory requirement of obtaining at least three quotations from service providers not being followed.
Although Mnkandla was initially suspended to pave way for investigations, Highlanders’ lawyers later advised that he be reinstated after his legal team challenged the process, arguing that due process had not been followed.
He subsequently returned to work while investigations continued.
However, another dispute soon emerged after Mnkandla wrote to chairman Kenneth Mhlophe declaring that he was no longer able to report for duty because Highlanders had failed to pay his salary since March.
In his letter, Mnkandla stressed that he was not resigning but was financially incapacitated and unable to continue performing his duties because the club had failed to honour its contractual obligation to remunerate him.
For Mnkandla, a second suspension in three months signals a relationship with the club leadership that appears beyond repair.
